Wife: Bought and Paid For

Then, with Veronica’s information that Penny had been at the vicarage with her friend Jane, he had gone looking for her and found her with Simon. Fury did not begun to cover how he had felt at the time. Rejected and robbed in one week was not something he had ever contemplated happening to him. But it had reinforced the belief he had developed in his youth that women were not to be trusted, with his mother and grandmother as prime examples.

Remembering the fiasco now made his teeth clench. For once in his life he had let his guard down and as far as Solo was concerned the whole damn family had taken advantage of the fact to con money out of him. A half share in a house they had no intention of leaving or selling was of no use to Solo. He had been well and truly tricked.

‘Well?’ Penny said, the long silence praying on her already-taut nerves.

His eyes flickered, the pupils hard and black, dilating with what looked like anger. For a moment he stared at her, and then suddenly he smiled, his expression bland.

‘As you know I bought some acreage from your father with a view to developing it. Your father was quite happy with the price I paid, but he had a very expensive wife in Veronica.’

‘Tell me about it,’ Penny muttered dryly.

One dark brow elevated sardonically. ‘Yes, exactly. Anyway, I had a feasibility study taken on the profitability of the project, and it wasn’t viable. Your father was disappointed, because he needed more money. Veronica had very expensive taste, though not particularly good, judging by what she has done to the house.

‘Knowing Veronica, I felt some sympathy for your father when he approached me and offered me a half-share of the house as collateral for a rather large sum of cash for an alternative investment he had in mind. I agreed because I felt a little guilty that we were not going ahead with the original project.’

‘How very altruistic of you.’ Penny said scathingly. ‘But that does not explain why he never told me.’

‘He was a proud man, maybe he was hoping to invest and make a profit.’ Solo shrugged his broad shoulders indifferently. ‘Perhaps he was hoping to remedy the situation before anyone knew. But I am sure he would have told you eventually. Even you must admit he couldn’t possibly have expected to die so soon.’

That was true enough, Penny thought sadly. Veronica and her father had spent every summer in the south of France, while Penny had stayed home and looked after James. Veronica had always flashed the photographs around to all and sundry of the villa and yacht they’d leased.

‘You’re probably right.’ There was a connection tugging at the edge of her brain, something that she was missing. But with a sigh she gave up. There was no sense in dwelling on what she could not change. ‘So you buy me out or we sell,’ she said flatly, getting back to the point of the talk.

‘No,’ Solo’s steel-grey eyes met hers. ‘There is another choice. In your case it’s the only choice.’

‘That sounds ominous,’ she said, trying for a lightness she did not feel. ‘In fact it could almost be construed as a threat.’

‘Not a threat, a promise. I promise to restore Haversham Park, and pay all your debts, plus your expenses, and you and James can stay here. In return…’

For a split second hope sprung in her heart. ‘You turn most of it into a hotel and leave us with an apartment or something,’ she finished for him, thinking with relief that it was an incredibly generous offer.

‘Not quite.’ Hard eyes stared down at her. ‘It stays a private home, you will still run the place, but we share it.’

‘Share!’ she exclaimed, jumping to her feet. An unpaid housekeeper was what he meant, and Penny could imagine nothing worse than sharing a house with Solo, having to see him parade his girlfriends in front of her. ‘No way.’ She could not bear the idea and she did not question why.

Rising to his full height, Solo let his strong hands fall on her shoulders; she tried to shrug him off, but his hold tightened.

‘So impulsive,’ he opined hardly. ‘But allow me to finish. We get married and you stay here but as my wife for as long as I want you.’

‘Your wife?’ She almost choked.

‘Yes,’ Solo said flatly. ‘Then when we part the place is yours free and clear.’

Her stunned gaze lifted up to his. He had to be joking… His grey eyes stared back cold and implacable, and there was a ruthlessness about his hard, handsome features that told her he was not. The colour drained from her face; she could hardly breathe. Solo was a man who always got what he wanted—she should have remembered that.

A hollow laugh escaped her. Well, he’d already had her, to put it crudely; what had she got to lose? ‘Why?’ Penny demanded stonily. ‘What earthly benefit will it be to you?’

‘What do you think? After what we did earlier, how can you ask that?’ Solo looked at her, his smile filled with a

rrogant amusement. ‘Or perhaps like most females you are fishing for compliments.’ He shrugged slightly, his powerful shoulders lifting beneath the fine cashmere of his sweater, his handsome face expressionless.

‘I don’t mind humouring you. You were exquisite at eighteen, and the years in between have been very good to you. You have matured into a stunningly beautiful woman.’ Blatantly he let his eyes drop to her high, full breasts clearly outlined by her blue sweater. ‘My hobby is collecting perfect works of art, and to my utter astonishment I discovered you were one of that rare breed of woman, pure in body, if not mind.’ he inserted cynically. ‘I intended to be your lover four years ago, but you denied me, and I don’t take denial easily. I figured you owed me, and today I collected,’ he declared dangerously, and Penny erupted into angry speech.

‘I owe you. You have some gall. I don’t know how you did it but you have already stolen my home—what more can you want?’

‘You,’ he told her inexorably, his fingers biting into her shoulders. ‘I was surprised to realise I was your first lover, so naturally I intend to hang onto you for as long as I want you.’ His eyes glittered with ruthless disregard and Penny could not believe the colossal arrogance of the man.

She tilted her head back, a light of battle in her gaze. ‘That is the most disgusting, chauvinistic statement I have ever heard. You can’t own a woman like an object,’ she flared back.